Daniel Le Goff, Mayor of Saint-Thélo and Bernard Hulin, working for
Community of Commons at the time, along with seve-ral inhabitants of the village,
wanted to connect the opening of the Maison des Toiles, with the redevelopment
of the village as a whole. With this aim in mind, they were put in touch with
Eternal Network, who manage the funds for the New Patrons programme of the
Fondation de France.

The patrons were made aware of this programme, by
CAUE 22 (Advisors in Architecture, Urbanism and Environment), and decided
to ask Eternal Network to work on the project. From 2001, Mathieu Le Barzic
(architect) and Didier Pidoux (landscape designer), advisors for CAUE 22,
collaborated with Anastassia Makridou-Bretonneau, mediator for the New Patrons
Programme, in defining the ideas and practicalities of the project.

The mediator and the patrons held several meetings
in order to asses and clarify their ideas and concerns. She then suggested
that the Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata be involved in the project.

Following
several visits of the village and meetings with the patrons, Tadashi Kawamata
expressed a particular interest in three old weavers’ cottages that were
due to for demolition. He expressed the wish to preserve them, for they too,
on a par with the merchant’s house, tell of the econmic, social and cutual
history which form Saint-Thélo’s identity.